SMS Notifications

This help document is applicable only to Zoho Books - Indian edition.

SMS Notifications allow you to send SMS messages to keep them informed about the invoice and payments. This is one of the fastest ways to update your customers.

Enable SMS Notifications

You can enable SMS notifications for your organisation by one of the following methods:

To enable SMS Notifications for your organisation:

Enable SMS Notifications

SMS notifications for your organisation will be enabled as soon as you perform any one of the actions mentioned above. Next, you can configure the SMS notifications that can be sent from your organisation.

DLT Registration and SMS Template Configuration

Distributed Ledger Technology also known as DLT, is a block-chain based registration system. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), it is mandatory for businesses to register with DLT to send SMS to customers in order to avoid spam.

To send SMS notifications to your customers, you will have to:

Note: This is not applicable for users sending SMS using the Twilio integration.

Register With a DLT Operator

You will first have to register yourself as an enterprise with any of the following DLT operators: Vodafone Idea Ltd, Videocon, BSNL, Jio, Airtel or Tata Teleservices to send SMS notifications to your customers. Here’s how:

Note: The below steps might vary based on the DLT operator you choose.

Insight: If the registration is rejected, you will receive an email with the reason for rejection. You can make the necessary changes in the portal and re-register.

On successful registration, you’ll receive your DLT Registration Number and Sender ID in your email.

DLT Configuration in Zoho Books

Once you have successfully registered with a DLT operator, you’ll have to configure the DLT details in Zoho Books. Here’s how:

Setup DLT

The details entered here will be cross verified with the details provided by you in the DLT platform. The status of the application will be Pending until it is verified. You’ll receive an email informing if the configuration has been approved or rejected.

Status Description
Pending The configuration is yet to be verified.
Approved The details have been successfully verified with the details in the DLT platform.
Rejected The configuration has been rejected due to invalid or missing details.

Edit DLT If you want to edit or make any changes to the DLT registration details after approval, you can do it by clicking the Edit DLT configuration option from the top right corner of the SMS Notifications page.

Configure

SMS Template Registration in DLT

To send SMS to your customers, you’ll have to register the SMS templates with DLT. If the SMS sent to your customers does not match the template registered in the DLT platform, the SMS will be barred. Here’s how you can register your SMS template in DLT:

Note: The below steps might vary based on the DLT operator you choose.

Insight: Choose whether the content type is Transactional, Promotional, Service Implicit or Service Explicit. Based on the content type, the list of approved headers will be auto-populated. You can select as many headers as necessary.

If you want to use a template from Zoho Books, you can do so by copying the content from the Message text box in the Configure Template pop-up. To send dynamic content, add variables.

On successful registration you will receive the Template ID and the SMS Template via email.

Configure SMS Template in Zoho Books

Once the DLT registration is configured and the status is approved, you’ll have to configure the registered template in Zoho Books. Here’s how:

Configure

Note: Please make sure the selected template is approved with the DLT operator.

Configure SMS Notifications

In Zoho Books, you can configure three types of SMS notifications for your customers. You can send them to your customers manually or automatically based on your settings.

SMS Notification When can you send them?
Invoice Details
  • You can send it when you create an invoice and want to notify via SMS.
  • Based on your preferences, Invoice Creation SMSes are sent automatically for recurring invoices.
Payment Reminder
  • A Payment Reminder SMS will be sent automatically based on your preferences in Settings > Reminders & Notifications > Reminders > Automated Reminders > Invoices.
Payment Thank You
  • You can send them when you record payment for an invoice.
  • Based on your preferences, a Payment Thank You SMS will be sent automatically when you receive online payments.

You can enable each SMS notification to send them to your customers. Here’s how:

Configure SMS Notifications

Note: At the moment, you’ll not be able to edit the SMS that will be sent to your customers.

By default, SMS notifications will be enabled for all your customers’ primary contact.

Enable SMS Notifications for Contact Persons

SMS notifications are not enabled by default for contact persons of a customer. You have to enable them manually. Here’s how:

If you want disable it, you can do so by repeating the above steps.

Enable Contact Person SMS Notification

Disable SMS Notifications for a Contact

You can disable the SMS notification for individual customers if you don’t want to notify them via SMS. This will prevent you from sending an SMS to the primary contact or any of the contact persons associated with that customer.

To disable SMS notifications:

If you want to enable it, you can do it by repeating the above steps.

Disable SMS
Disable SMS Notifications for Primary Contact

If you want to disable SMS notifications only for the primary contact, follow the steps below:

Disable SMS Notifications for Primary Contact

Send SMS Notifications

Based on the SMS notifications you’ve enabled and the contact preferences, SMS will be sent automatically to the respective customers and contact persons in the following cases:

SMS will not be sent if you have not recorded any phone number for the customer or contact persons.

Apart from SMS notifications being sent automatically, you can send them manually. Here’s how:

Notify via SMS

Note: If your SMS contains special characters, then each SMS notification will be considered as two messages.

Preview SMS Notification

The SMS notification will be sent immediately and the status of the SMS will be updated in the transaction history and contact activities.

Also, you can send the Payment Thank You SMS manually, if you’ve collected the payment offline and are recording it manually. Here’s how:

Payment Thank you SMS
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